Government response to the Landscapes Review - consultation

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jimbob
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Government response to the Landscapes Review - consultation

Post by jimbob » Sun Apr 03, 2022 8:23 am

The Government wants to hear views on this.
Overview
Implementing some aspects of our response to the review will require changes to legislation, subject to securing parliamentary time. We are seeking public views on support for these proposed legislative changes, and their potential effects on different groups and interests. We are also interested to hear any wider views on other aspects of our response to the review.

Please see our response before answering the questions.
I have struggled to parse what their proposal actually is beyond vague platitudes but the Campaign for National Parks has a good response to it

(PDF) https://www.cnp.org.uk/sites/default/fi ... FINAL).pdf
Have you considered stupidity as an explanation

IvanV
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Re: Government response to the Landscapes Review - consultation

Post by IvanV » Wed Apr 06, 2022 11:37 am

jimbob wrote:
Sun Apr 03, 2022 8:23 am
I have struggled to parse what their proposal actually is beyond vague platitudes
I think to understand this you have to first read the actual Landscapes Review Final Report that the government is responding to. And before that, it may be sensible to look at the Terms of Reference of the review. I set out the objectives in the ToR below. That would usually be where I start when I wish to analyse such documentation.

The final report has 27 proposals in 5 sections, which I set out below. These are high level proposals - what you might call platitudes - but I think that is right at this stage. You need to decide first what high level aims you have before you start to decide how you might achieve them, and then make them precise in terms of what kind of public action might be. I think this government response, at this point, is still at this high level, rather than deciding in detail how you might do it. It is deciding which proposals it intends to take forward, and some kind of gloss on that. In terms of commenting on it, I suspect the key thing is to spot what it quietly found embarrassing and is therefore ignoring or de-emphasising. Or what it is twisting to the benefit of a particular interest groups.

This kind of review can lead to large and important changes. Or it can be more like rearranging deckchairs. Or an excuse for favouring some interest groups over others. Or even just forgotten about - sometimes government puts out a consultation and never even reports on the responses to it, perhaps if those responses are particularly inconvenient. (Like the consultation on how the government proposed to clamp down on dangerous cycling.)
Terms of Reference wrote:3. Objectives
In the context of meeting both local and national priorities and wider environmental governance, the review will examine and make recommendations on:
- the existing statutory purposes for National Parks and AONBs and how effectively they are being met
- the alignment of these purposes with the goals set out in the 25 Year Plan for the Environment
- the case for extension or creation of new designated areas
- how to improve individual and collective governance of National Parks and AONBs, and how that governance interacts with other national assets
- the financing of National Parks and AONBs
- how to enhance the environment and biodiversity in existing designations
- how to build on the existing eight-point plan for National Parks and to connect more people with the natural environment from all sections of society and improve health and wellbeing
- how well National Parks and AONBs support communities
Landscapes Review Final Report wrote: Proposals

1. Landscapes Alive for Nature and Beauty
Proposal 1: National landscapes should have a renewed mission to recover and enhance nature, and be supported and held to account for delivery by a new National Landscapes Service
Proposal 2: The state of nature and natural capital in our national landscapes should be regularly and robustly assessed, informing the priorities for action
Proposal 3: Strengthened Management Plans should set clear priorities and actions for nature recovery including, but not limited to, wilder areas and the response to climate change (notably tree planting and peatland restoration). Their implementation must be backed up by stronger status in law
Proposal 4: National landscapes should form the backbone of Nature Recovery Networks – joining things up within and beyond their boundaries
Proposal 5: A central place for national landscapes in new Environmental Land Management Schemes
Proposal 6: A strengthened place for national landscapes in the planning system with AONBs given statutory consultee status, encouragement to develop local plans and changes to the National Planning Policy Framework

2. Landscapes for Everyone
Proposal 7: A stronger mission to connect all people with our national landscapes, supported and held to account by the new National Landscapes Service
Proposal 8: A night under the stars in a national landscape for every child
Proposal 9: New long‑term programmes to increase the ethnic diversity of visitors
Proposal 10: Landscapes that cater for and improve the nation’s health and wellbeing
Proposal 11: Expanding volunteering in our national landscapes
Proposal 12: Better information and signs to guide visitors
Proposal 13: A ranger service in all our national landscapes, part of a national family
Proposal 14: National landscapes supported to become leaders in sustainable tourism
Proposal 15: Joining up with others to make the most of what we have,and bringing National Trails into the national landscapes family
Proposal 16: Consider expanding open access rights in national landscapes

3. Living in Landscapes
Proposal 17: National landscapes working for vibrant communities
Proposal 18: A new National Landscapes Housing Association to build affordable homes
Proposal 19: A new approach to coordinating public transport piloted in the Lake District, and new, more sustainable ways of accessing national landscapes

4. More Special Places
Proposal 20: New designated landscapes and a new National Forest
Proposal 21: Welcoming new landscape approaches in cities and the coast, and a city park competition
Proposal 22: A better designations process

5. New Ways of Working
Proposal 23: Stronger purposes in law for our national landscapes
Proposal 24: AONBs strengthened with new purposes, powers and resources, renamed as National Landscapes
Proposal 25: A new National Landscapes Service bringing our 44 national landscapes together to achieve more than the sum of their parts
Proposal 26: Reformed governance to inspire and secure ambition in our national landscapes and better reflect society
Proposal 27: A new financial model – more money, more secure, more enterprising

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